Bailard Inc. Has $2.96 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Bailard Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,098,695,000 after buying an additional 931,132 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,760,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,062,509,000 after buying an additional 542,841 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,725,317,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 25.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $661.24.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Partnership to modernize travel loyalty — Mastercard teamed with Agoda to offer more flexible travel rewards, supporting merchant/consumer engagement and cross-border volume growth. Agoda and Mastercard modernise loyalty programmes
• Positive Sentiment: Expanding emerging-market lending tools — Mastercard and iscore will study a new credit-scoring model to power digital lending in Egypt, which could boost network transaction growth and product adoption in MENA. Mastercard and iscore join forces
• Positive Sentiment: Positioning on AI and cybersecurity — CEO commentary and company initiatives highlight leadership in setting AI commerce rules and defensive investments against AI-driven fraud, supporting franchise durability and regulatory positioning. Exclusive: Mastercard moves to set the rules for AI-driven commerce
• Neutral Sentiment: Exploring crypto infrastructure — after acquisition talks, Mastercard is weighing an investment in crypto firm ZeroHash; strategic upside exists but outcome and returns are uncertain. Mastercard weighs investment in ZeroHash
• Neutral Sentiment: Community/brand initiatives — Mastercard showcased its Indigenous Playmaker Marketplace at Scotiabank Arena, reinforcing ESG/community engagement that supports brand and corporate relationships but has limited immediate revenue impact. Inside Mastercard’s Indigenous Playmaker Marketplace
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/policy watch — industry debate over a proposed credit-card interest-rate cap could shift payments economics; networks are less exposed to interest income than banks, so impact on Mastercard is mixed. Jamie Dimon on credit card rate cap
• Negative Sentiment: Operational disruption in Brazil — Brazil’s central bank ordered liquidation of a Banco Master unit and Mastercard temporarily suspended cards, creating near-term payment flow and reputation risk in a key market. Brazil central bank liquidates Banco Master’s Will
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/peer comparison favors Visa — Recent analysis highlights Visa’s scale, margins and lower valuation as advantages, which can pressure sentiment and relative valuation for MA. Visa vs. Mastercard analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Notable investor trimming — reports that value investor Guy Spier sold MA in Q4 can weigh on investor confidence even if motives are fund-specific. 4 Stocks Guy Spier Was Selling

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE MA opened at $527.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $473.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $555.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $565.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.25%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.